No longer Floridians...

How sad is that? Very sad if you see the beaches here, but we won't mention that anymore.



10 years ago, July 18, 2001, we (with just Arianna and Asher) arrived in hot, humid, sticky, Jacksonville, Florida. We didn't know if we could survive the heat. We adjusted quickly and loved it! We moved into a 3 bedroom apartment. At the time Cor was working for PriceWaterCoopers as a Manager of Accounting. Shortly after arriving, 9/11 happened. It was an awkward time to be foreigners in a country. In late September Cor lost his job. In the Lord's kind providence Cor quickly received an offer from CEVA Logistics.

A year later we moved into a beautiful new home in St. Augustine. We lived in this house for 3 years.. We loved living there but when Cor saw an opportunity to make some money by selling our place, he went for it. We sold this house privately. The buyers came in the late afternoon on March 29, 2005. The reason the date is so clear in my mind is because it was a day before by due date! I felt like my Braxton Hicks were a little harder and was pretty certain Julianna would be born on her due date. The owners stayed for long time. I tried to hide my discomfort. They finally left and Cor left to pick up my mom from the airport. I was concerned because he would be gone for at least 2 1/2 hours. Asher was born after only 45 minutes of labor. The contractions stopped. He arrived home with my mom, and I woke up early in the morning with serious labor. Julianna was born in the early afternoon. We closed on the house a day after Julianna was born.

319 Diana Court, St. Augustine, FL

We built another house, this time a little bigger 40 miles north of St. Augustine. 2 years after moving in, we put in a pool. We spent many, many hours playing in it. Anna Grace was born in this house. We loved everything about living in North Jacksonville. The people, the sports, the beach that was close. We lived in this home for 6 years. I actually started to think we were planting roots.

12500 Richfield Blvd, Jacksonville, FL

(I even planted flowers...)

so pretty at Christmas time

Until...

March 2011, Cor accepted a position of US Controller for CEVA Logistics. The new promotion involved a move to Houston, TX. We leave with many mixed emotions. We loved living in Florida. We left behind many great friends. But, we are also excited for Cor with this new challenging and rewarding position. With each of the moves I've made I've had a sense of adventure in me, I don't feel as adventurous this time. Perhaps it's age? :)

A little bonus for me is that the housing is a little cheaper in TX and we were able to purchase a home that was quite a bit larger. I didn't think I'd like a 2 story home but preparing dinner while the kids are playing upstairs in the game room gives me lots of peace! We aren't on top of each other anymore. Pray for us as we continue to transition here.

 Kingwood, TX

And, as always, y'all are more than welcome to visit us here. We'd love it.

Spring Birthdays and Spring Visits

It truly has been a very busy spring. Spring always is for us. We have 4 family birthdays and usually the "good old faithfuls" come by for a visit. Cor has been traveling a lot lately making life seem all the more busier. Spring ball with 3 kids is fun and great for the kids, but we are always happy when it is over as well. For some reason, I don't have pictures of Cor's 37th birthday or Asher's 10th birthday. Cor won't forget that party though. He was in charge of 8 boys all.by.himself. Bless his heart! I was at a ball game with Arianna.

Arianna's 12th birthday, she got spoiled of course. Birthdays are very special events!

Julianna turns 6!!

her friends

she has wanted rollerblades for a LONG time! She looks thrilled

My mom and her cousin from Holland, Tante Eef, came for a quick 4 day visit. We had a lot of fun touring Jacksonville and St. Augustine. She doesn't speak too much English, and I don't speak too much Dutch, and my mom can speak both but she was a horrible translator!! But we made it through the week just fine. Julianna told Tante Eef that our dog was English. We laughed so hard! I remember Tante Eef visiting our family when I was a little, so her visiting me now was really special.

Mom, me and Tante Eef in front of beautiful Flagler College

Cor is always loved!

Jon and Kelley came for a week long visit. We always have a great time with them. Thanks for using your vacation time to visit us. We love being together and the kids just have a blast. The kids are getting older making the visits a lot easier. We even went out for dinner one night and didn't have to run out with any crying kids or tantrums. We definitely made 10 kids look easy :)The other patrons laughed at our two families and tried to pair the kids with the parents. They did a great job too!

all crammed in our little breakfast nook. We ate all our meals together.

apparently the kids like it crammed because here they are in the kiddie pool intended for Anna Grace and Nicolas!

still not sure why they sat in that little pool together

the gang minus Anna Grace who was miserable :(

Nana and Papa(Cor's parents) came for a visit the middle of May. We had a great time with them and were spoiled by them!

Playing spoons was a hit!

as was playing basketball in the pool

The kids had a piano recital when they were over. They were proud to perform what they had learned!

this and that

I am so very thankful that it is almost March. It has been a long, cold winter for me. I don't enjoy being chilled at all. I love the heat and the sunshine, the pool and the beach. Last week the weather changed and I can feel spring in the air! We've had a few gorgeous days lately so we spent them outside and at the beach.

This month we've enjoyed a weekend in Orlando visiting our friends, the Sawkins. They've been coming to Florida for vacations for 9 years and we always catch up right where we left off the year before. We met them 14 years ago when we were young and newlywed! They were young too but not newlyweds and parents of 2 sweet girls. They also spent a weekend at our house.

My nephew Aaron and niece Ashley and baby Ashton visited us again this past week. It's always a fun time. Thanks for taking our family pictures, hopefully some turn out! Love it that you visit us.

Baseball season is in full swing again. 3 kids on 3 different teams means most evenings are spent at the ball field. It's busy but excellent and fun for the kids. Not so fun for AnnaGrace though.

no more relaxing at the pool, before Ashley and I knew it, the kids were in the pool.

Anna Grace seems to be enjoying herself immensely! Got to teach her how to swim this year.

monkey see monkey do...

will she be left handed? her daddy hopes so!

happy go lucky Julianna

our happy wanderer. She is content to just walk around all.day.long. swinging her arm!

our 4 legged friend, whom I'm actually starting to like

a relaxing way to read?

beautiful hats made by a special friend...thank you Jen!

just too darn cute not to add

me gloating...

beautiful St. John's river

glad they think so!

Us!

the boys..Asher (9)

the girls...Arianna (11), Julianna (5) Anna Grace(14mths)

the dog!

Tucker (9 mths)

Candy Cane Tour

We went on a field trip to Sweet Pete's. We watched how candy canes were made. All the candy in Sweet Pete's is made using organic products and natural flavoring and colors. The red color in the candy cane is from beet juice and the green is from spinach juice. The kids enjoyed this trip to kick off the holiday season. The house was so cute, I had to take lots of pictures! Enjoy.

pouring out the sugar

adding the color

pulling the sugar to expand it

twisting the colors together

extremely time sensitive job, the candy needs to stay warm.

He was moving quickly

the kids were able to form their own shape